Question 1

Why is it de flesta människor and not de flesta människorna?

Accepted Answer

In Swedish, "most [noun]" is expressed with de flesta followed by the indefinite plural of the noun. Even though de (the) looks like it should make the noun definite, de flesta acts as a fixed phrase meaning "the majority of". So it is always de flesta människor (most people), never de flesta människorna.

Question 2

Can I use handlar instead of shoppar here?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Shoppar is a direct loanword from English and is used mostly for clothes, electronics, and leisure shopping. Handlar is a traditional Swedish word often used for necessities like groceries (handla mat), but it is also very common for general online shopping (handla på nätet). Both are perfectly fine here.

Question 3

Why do we say på nätet instead of på internet?

Accepted Answer

På nätet translates literally to "on the net" and is the most common, natural way to say "online" or "on the internet" in everyday Swedish. You can say på internet, but på nätet is much more frequent. Notice it uses the preposition på (on) and the definite noun form nätet (the net).

Question 4

Could I put idag at the beginning of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can start the sentence with idag if you want to emphasize the time: Idag shoppar de flesta människor på nätet. Just remember the V2 rule (verb in the second position). If you put idag first, the verb shoppar must come immediately after it, before the long subject de flesta människor.

De flesta människor shoppar på nätet idag.

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